I got a twitter response asking me how I ranked the list. So, I’ll come out with it. I read a lot into ceiling, tools, the last year or so, draft placement, scouts’ evaluations, etc. I also had a large amount of intangible built in, which basically adds up to 20% of my ranking coming down to a gut call (I don’t do the advanced stats so well, so gut calls are about as good as it gets). So I’ll break down the process itself over the next few days as a bonus for reading.

So here was the process (roughly, not revealing all my secrets, mostly because I don’t think they’ll make any sense to anyone but me):

First, I grabbed what I viewed to be the top 75 or so of the Twins prospects (I think I ended up playing with 73 when all was said and done). While many of the prospects were clearly not going to be in the top 32, I think of those 73 there were about 50 that I felt legitimately could have been included in the top 32. So the first thing I did was eliminate the total outliers, read: the ones that had a snowball’s chance in hell of making the top 32. This first step was based almost entirely on the last two years’ numbers and my gut feeling based on scouting reports. That took me down to about 61 prospects. When I’m done with the top 32, I might give the eliminated names, just in the interest of transparency.

The Real Question: Will he show up at the Twins before or after Anthony Slama?

29. Max Kepler-Rozycki, OF, DNP

The Real Questions: What exactly does it mean to say that he is “the toolsiest player to come out of Europe in years?” How many toolsy players have come out of Europe? How toolsy is the average European player? These are the things I think about late at night when I should be writing papers.

28. Brian Dozier, SS, E-Town

The Real Question: How long will it take Dozier to overtake Dinkelman as the top SS prospect in the system?

27. Blayne Weller, RH-SP, GCL

The Real Question: Did Weller put the whammy on himself for his career by wearing a shirt that says “Perfect Game” in the picture listed in his picture given on his Josh’s Thoughts profile?

26. Mike McCardell, RH-SP, New Britain

The Real Question: What’s the over/under on when he will he be promoted to Rochester? Is six starts reasonable?